Auburn, Maggie Walker, Western Albemarle, Blacksburg, Deep Run, and Cosby claimed the top spots in VHSL athletic competition for the 2017-18 school year winning the coveted Wells Fargo Cup. William Byrd High School, a past three time cup winner, finished 25th among the 53 teams in Class 4.
First awarded in 1990, the Wells Fargo Cup goes to the school in each group classification that has achieved the best overall record in VHSL state-level competition in 27 sports – the state champions’ state champion. Cups are presented for athletic and academic activities to the top school in each of the League’s enrollment Classifications. Galileo Magnet, Radford, Turner Ashby, Jefferson Forest, Thomas Jefferson S&T, and Chantilly were announced earlier as 2017-18 winners for academic activities.
The winner of the Wells Fargo Cup is determined by a point system based on performance in state championship events. Points are awarded for all sanctioned sports in the following manner; First place-50, second-45, third-40, fourth-35, fifth-30, sixth-25, seventh-20 and eighth-15. In the event of a tie, the schools received an equal number of points based on the number of schools that tie and the number schools that finish higher in the standings. Schools earning the League’s Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award earn 50 points each.
Byrd finished with 105 total points, scoring in each season. The Terriers scored 45 points in cheerleading in the fall, 22.5 points in girls’ basketball in the winter and 37.5 points in softball in the spring.
Blacksburg moved up a Classification to Class 4 in 2017-18 and totaled 527.5 points. The Bruins earned 185 fall points, followed by 129 points in the winter, and 222.5 points in the spring. Loudoun Valley finished second with 450 points, followed by Grafton with 355 points, defending Class 4 champions Jamestown with 295 points, and 2015-16 Cup champion Hanover rounding out the top five with 267.5 points each.
“We congratulate all the schools who competed in this year’s VHSL championship events,” said John W. “Billy” Haun, Ed.D., VHSL executive director. “We especially congratulate the best of the best and we thank Wells Fargo for supporting this important recognition.”
The Wells Fargo Cup athletic and academic winners will be recognized during VHSL Day at a University of Virginia football game this fall in Charlottesville.
